Mila Schon
Encyclopedia
Mila Schön was an Italian
-born fashion designer. Marella Agnelli
was one of her early clients.
Born Maria Carmen Nutrizio, in Traù
(Dalmatia) – now Croatia – on September 28, 1915 to wealthy Italian aristocratic parents who relocated to the Italian peninsula when Schön was a child, she is known for her simple, modern clothes structured along classical lines.
After the First World War, the lands ruled from Vienna were redistributed and the family moved to Trieste, where she grew up and which she considered her home. At the age of 18, she left the city to join her brother in Genoa, moving once again to Milan in 1946. There, she met her husband, precious metals dealer Aurelio Schön.
In the postwar period, Schön enjoyed a brief return to wealth – she became a client of the most prestigious Parisian couture houses, first Balenciaga
and then Dior
.
Happiness was to be short lived - when her husband's jewellery business failed and the marriage ended, she was left broke with a young son, Giorgio. Lacking the means to fund her love of couture, she resorted to creating dresses herself, with the help of skilled Milanese seamstresses, creating garments which imitated Parisian fashion at Milan prices. As her friends began to place private orders, Schön suddenly became a fashion entrepreneur. With the help of her mother, she opened a workshop in 1958.
By 1965, Mila - her childhood nickname - Schön had advanced so far beyond imitation that she was invited to show her 'Onda' (Wave) collection in the famous Sala Bianca at Pitti Palace in Florence. Her 25 outfits in tones of violet, the colour of the Art Nouveau revival, were a hit. In 1966 she opened her maison in an antique palazzo at Via Montenapoleone 2, with modern furniture by Joe Colombo
and Eero Saarinen
.
In the same year, she received the Neiman Marcus
'Fashion Oscar' prize for colour. At the legendary Black and White Ball held at the Hotel Plaza in NY by Truman Capote
, Marella Agnelli was voted best-dressed guest, in an sheer embroidered Schön kaftan craftswomen. The third in the best-dressed guest contest was Lee Radziwill
in a Schön shift. Agnelli and Radzwill, with Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Iran's Farah Diba and Imelda Marcos
were amongst Schön's clients especially in her Onassis yachtgoing years, as did Farah Diba, wife of the Shah of Iran, and later Imelda Marcos came to embody the Mila Schön brand of simple, intelligent elegance.
In the US, her clothes were stocked by Neiman Marcus, Bonwit Teller
and Henri Bendel
. She was the first Italian designer to show ready-to-wear in Japan, where the rigour of her geometry and futurism is still respected – in the 1960s, she was called feminine Courrèges.
"Not how much, but how" was Schön's motto. Up to the end of her career, she retained a sense of youthful curiosity and a love of simplicity and elegance.
Like Armani did later, she tried to subvert the traditional structures of tailoring, although she did so with a more daring zeal, experimenting with doublefaced fabrics and investing in her own Cuomo textile firm for research and development. Schön remembered from childhood Jeanne Lanvin
's feminine discipline, and she anticipated Jil Sander
as an unsentimental reductionist. When she did do colour and pattern, she borrowed from the modern art she collected - Victor Vasarely
, Kenneth Noland
, Alexander Calder
, Lucio Fontana
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-born fashion designer. Marella Agnelli
Marella Agnelli
Marella Agnelli, born Princess Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto is an Italian socialite, style icon and wife of Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli...
was one of her early clients.
Born Maria Carmen Nutrizio, in Traù
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...
(Dalmatia) – now Croatia – on September 28, 1915 to wealthy Italian aristocratic parents who relocated to the Italian peninsula when Schön was a child, she is known for her simple, modern clothes structured along classical lines.
After the First World War, the lands ruled from Vienna were redistributed and the family moved to Trieste, where she grew up and which she considered her home. At the age of 18, she left the city to join her brother in Genoa, moving once again to Milan in 1946. There, she met her husband, precious metals dealer Aurelio Schön.
In the postwar period, Schön enjoyed a brief return to wealth – she became a client of the most prestigious Parisian couture houses, first Balenciaga
Balenciaga
Balenciaga is a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Basque designer, born in the Basque Country, Spain. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior. His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern...
and then Dior
Dior
Dior can mean:* Christian Dior SA, a French clothing retailer* In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth legendarium:**Dior Eluchíl, a Half-elven of the First Age**Dior , a Steward of GondorDior is a surname, and may refer to:...
.
Happiness was to be short lived - when her husband's jewellery business failed and the marriage ended, she was left broke with a young son, Giorgio. Lacking the means to fund her love of couture, she resorted to creating dresses herself, with the help of skilled Milanese seamstresses, creating garments which imitated Parisian fashion at Milan prices. As her friends began to place private orders, Schön suddenly became a fashion entrepreneur. With the help of her mother, she opened a workshop in 1958.
By 1965, Mila - her childhood nickname - Schön had advanced so far beyond imitation that she was invited to show her 'Onda' (Wave) collection in the famous Sala Bianca at Pitti Palace in Florence. Her 25 outfits in tones of violet, the colour of the Art Nouveau revival, were a hit. In 1966 she opened her maison in an antique palazzo at Via Montenapoleone 2, with modern furniture by Joe Colombo
Joe Colombo
Joe Colombo may refer to:* Joseph Colombo , American gangster, boss of the Colombo crime family* Joe Cesare Colombo , Italian industrial designer...
and Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
.
In the same year, she received the Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
'Fashion Oscar' prize for colour. At the legendary Black and White Ball held at the Hotel Plaza in NY by Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
, Marella Agnelli was voted best-dressed guest, in an sheer embroidered Schön kaftan craftswomen. The third in the best-dressed guest contest was Lee Radziwill
Lee Radziwill
Caroline Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill Ross best known as Lee Radziwill, is an American socialite, public relations executive, and former actress and interior decorator. She is the younger sister of the late First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis...
in a Schön shift. Agnelli and Radzwill, with Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Iran's Farah Diba and Imelda Marcos
Imelda Marcos
Imelda R. Marcos is a Filipino politician and widow of 10th Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Upon the ascension of her husband to political power, she held various positions to the government until 1986...
were amongst Schön's clients especially in her Onassis yachtgoing years, as did Farah Diba, wife of the Shah of Iran, and later Imelda Marcos came to embody the Mila Schön brand of simple, intelligent elegance.
In the US, her clothes were stocked by Neiman Marcus, Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller was a department store in New York City founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street. In 1897 Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the partnership and the store moved to 23rd Street, East of Sixth Avenue...
and Henri Bendel
Henri Bendel
Henri Bendel is an American upscale women's specialty store based in New York City that sells fashion accessories, cosmetics and fragrances, gifts and gourmet foods...
. She was the first Italian designer to show ready-to-wear in Japan, where the rigour of her geometry and futurism is still respected – in the 1960s, she was called feminine Courrèges.
"Not how much, but how" was Schön's motto. Up to the end of her career, she retained a sense of youthful curiosity and a love of simplicity and elegance.
Like Armani did later, she tried to subvert the traditional structures of tailoring, although she did so with a more daring zeal, experimenting with doublefaced fabrics and investing in her own Cuomo textile firm for research and development. Schön remembered from childhood Jeanne Lanvin
Jeanne Lanvin
Jeanne-Marie Lanvin was a French fashion designer and the founder of the Lanvin fashion house.One of the most influential designers of the 1920s and '30s, Jeanne Lanvin's skillful use of intricate trimmings, virtuoso embroideries and beaded decorations in clear, light, floral colors became a...
's feminine discipline, and she anticipated Jil Sander
Jil Sander
Heidemarie Jiline 'Jil' Sander is a minimalist German fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander fashion house....
as an unsentimental reductionist. When she did do colour and pattern, she borrowed from the modern art she collected - Victor Vasarely
Victor Vasarely
Victor Vasarely was a Hungarian French artist whose work is generally seen aligned with Op-art.His work entitled Zebra, created by Vasarely in the 1930s, is considered by some to be one of the earliest examples of Op-art...
, Kenneth Noland
Kenneth Noland
Kenneth Noland was an American abstract painter. He was one of the best-known American Color field painters, although in the 1950s he was thought of as an abstract expressionist and in the early 1960s he was thought of as a minimalist painter. Noland helped establish the Washington Color School...
, Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
, Lucio Fontana
Lucio Fontana
Lucio Fontana was an Italian painter, sculptor and theorist of Argentine birth. He was mostly known as the founder of Spatialism and his ties to Arte Povera.-Early life:...
External links
- Mila Schön Website
- Mila Schön via Modern Fashion Encyclopedia